Celtic secured a place in the Betfred Cup final at Hampden with a hard-fought 4-2 victory over Hibernian.

A Mikael Lustig double was the only talking point of a drab first half that saw a hapless defensive display from Hibs badly exposed.

However a revitalised Edinburgh side came roaring back in the second half first through an Anthony Stokes Penalty before Oliver Shaw cut the deficit to one again shortly after Moussa Dembele had grabbed Celtic’s third.

It set up a grandstand finish as Hibs pushed for a leveller, but Dembele would strike again with just two minutes left to play to seal Celtic’s place in next month’s final to face either Rangers or Motherwell as their domestic unbeaten run now extends to 60 games.

Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers made two changes to the team that lost convincingly in Muncih midweek as Olivier Ntcham and Cristian Gamboa made way for Callum McGregor and Nir Bitton. For Hibs, Neil Lennon also brought in a pair of fresh bodies from their last game, a 1-0 defeat to Aberdeen, Steven Whittaker and Martin Boyle dropping to the bench for captain David Gray and Brendan Barker.

For Lennon, it was a gamble that really didn’t pay off. While both dropped players made a key contribution when reintroduced here, the duo he put his faith in from the start were culpable at both of Celtic’s first-half goals.

On 14 minutes a Stuart Armstrong cross was flicked on in the middle by Dedryck Boyata towards Lustig at the back post. Barker was nowhere to be seen marking his man as the Swede steered the ball under the questionable Ross Laidlaw.

Three minutes before time and it was Gray’s turn to switch off. Leigh Griffiths’ corner dropped to the back post again for Lustig, who this time had spun away from the Hibs skipper, and his shinned effort was pitifully flapped into his own net by Laidlaw.

Half-time came and went and Lennon’s substitutions began to influence the match.

Almost immediately a Whittaker cross opened up the Celtic defence for Vykintas Slivka running from deep, but the Lithuanian couldn’t keep his header down from seven yards out.

At the other end Celtic should have killed the game off after 54 minutes. A counter attack on the left saw Scott Sinclair drive into the box before pulling back for Kieran Tierney 18 yards out. His first-time effort arched away from Laidlaw, clipping the outside of the post on its way wide.

Then on the hour Hibs made a game of this, albeit in contentious circumstances.

The impressive Boyle surged into the box on the far side only to be sent tumbling to the deck from Boyata. It appeared as if the Belgium got a toe to the ball, but after a lengthy pause Kevin Clancy pointed to the spot. Once the protests had subsided, Stokes stepped up to send Gordon the wrong way.

Brendan Rodgers introduced Dembele into the fold for Griffiths as Celtic attempted to kill the game off, and it took the Frenchman just five minutes to hit the mark.

On 66 minutes another Armstrong cross caused chaos in the box as it spun across the face of goal. James Forrest turned it towards Sinclair who then sclaffed the ball at goal. It eventually found its way to Dembele and he scrambled it across the line from close range as Hibs desperately – and incorrectly – appealed for offside.

However, Hibs weren’t done yet. Nineteen-year-old Shaw was thrown on instead of Simon Murray with the last roll of the Lennon dice as the clock struck 69 minutes. By the time it hit 71, the teenager had given Hibs hope.

Whittaker played a piercing through ball for Shaw to run on to with Bitton static, and his low finish crept in under Craig Gordon.

Alas, it was not to be for the Easter Road club who then pushed hard for a leveller. Dembele would grab his third goal of the season with just two minutes to go. Substitute Tom Rogic burst forward on the counter attack before switching the play towards Dembele on the far side to race into the box and pass the ball beyond Laidlaw.